Unfortunately, sometimes it is, in fact, unavoidable. Honey bees sometimes build their nests in homes or other human-occupied buildings, or so close to them that it's impossible to walk past them without alarming the colony.

Even when this is the case, we really prefer that you try to find a beekeeper to come remove the bees alive. It's getting harder to find beekeepers who are willing to do that, however. Some wild bees have been found to have infections infections that may endanger the rest of the beekeeper's bees, making beekeepers cautious about removing swarms.

Carpenter Bees

Carpenter bees are also called "wood bees" or "borer bees" because of this annoying habit they have of drilling holes. They drill perfectly-round holes in homes, fences, barns, sheds, deck furniture, playground equipment, and any other suitable piece of wood they can find.

The reason they drill holes is to lay their eggs in. It's not just because they want to annoy us. As far as they're concerned, your home is just another dead tree.

Carpenter bees are efficient pollinators, and they don't present much of a stinging threat. The males don't have stingers, and the females rarely sting. So really, the only reason to treat a carpenter bee problem is because of the damage they cause to wood. If they're drilling holes in a dead tree, or an old shed that you're hoping will fall down anyway so you can take a tax deduction on it, then there's really no good reason to kill them.

If they're drilling holes in something you care about, however, then you need to take care of the problem. They can do severe damage over time, and the problem will just keep getting more difficult to solve.

Bald Faced Hornets

Bald faced hornets are stocky wasps that are predominantly black in color, with white or yellow markings. They are the most aggressive and unpredictable wasps we deal with in the Dayton area.

Bald faced hornets station two or three "sentries" outside their nests to keep an eye out for danger. If the sentries become alarmed, they alert the rest of the colony, and they emerge in full force to attack the perceived threat. Their stings are quite painful, and getting stung by enough of them may just land you in the hospital -- even if you're not especially sensitive to insect stings.

The problem is that there's no way of telling what will alarm the sentries. You can walk past their nest every day and not be bothered, and then one day they decide to attack you. They're very unpredictable.

If you have a problem with hornets, please don't try to take care of the problem yourself. There's a god chance you'll be sorry. Call us instead. We do this sort of thing for a living.

Yellow Jacket Wasps

There are several different insects referred to as "yellow jackets." The yellow jacket in this picture is the most common insect by that name in Ohio's Miami Valley region.

Yellow jackets are fairly aggressive, though not quite so aggressive as hornets. They build paper nests that can be quite huge -- sometimes several feet in size -- in hollow voids. Unfortunately, these hollow voids often happen to be walls, ceilings, attics, or other parts of our homes

Yellow jackets can be tricky to treat because the entry and exit holes where you see the wasps going into and out of the house may be quite some distance from the actual nest. If you treat the holes with a repellent insecticide, the wasps may just wind up going into the house to avoid the insecticide.

As with hornets, the treatment of yellow jacket problems is best left to professionals.

Paper Wasps

There are many species of paper wasps. The name refers to their nesting habit of building exposed paper nests, rather than nests enclosed in a paper outer layer like hornets and yellow jackets do.

Paper wasps vary in their degree of aggressiveness, but most are not very aggressive unless they are threatened. They commonly build nests on door and window frames, under patio furniture, behind shutters, and in other semi-protected places.

Most species of paper wasps are not obligate social insects, but it's not uncommon for multiple individuals to build nests very close to each other or to tend the same nest. But they're not true social insects because they don't require a colony, nor is there any apparent division of labor. They're more like residents who happen to live in the same apartment building, than a cooperative unit like a yellow jacket or hornet colony.

Please contact us for more information on stinging insect removal or to schedule a service appointment. We look forward to your call.

Jarrod's Corner

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